Curtain-fixture.



No. 632,343. Patented Sept. 5, 1899.-

T. A. Essen.

CURTAIN FIXTURE.

(Application filed mw. 9, fuses.

(No Model.)

WITNESSES: INVENTOR TIlEODOR AUGUST ESSER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CURTAIN-FIXTU RE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,343, datedSeptember 5, 1899.

Application filed November 9, 1898. Serial No. 695,917. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that LTHEoDoR AUGUST Essen, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fixtures forCurtains, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fixtures for curtains,especially of the kind called portieres; and the objects of my inventionare, first, to provide a pole, rod, or strip having tracks thereon fortraveling hangers and of such construction that it can be fasteneddirectly to a door-lintel or other supporting-framework without anyintervening space between said pole, rod, or strip and such lintel,dispensing with end sockets or supports; second, to provide a hangerwhich will easily travel upon said pole and support the dependingfabric, and, third, to provide the other details herein set forth. Iattain these objects by means of the mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of the rod intransverse section, showing the means of supporting the tracks thereonfor the traveling hanger, and, further, showing the hanger in positionthere on. Fig. 2 is a side View of my device, showing the pole, hanger,and means of fastening said pole to the lintel. Fig. 3 is a View frombeneath the device when attached to the lintel, showing the pole,hanger, and means of fastening said pole to its supporting-frame. Fig. 4is a view in perspective of the hanger, showing the hanger-rollers andeyelet which furnishes means of attachment to the depending fabric. Fig.5 is a view of a portion of the hanger, showing the pin which serves asa bearing for the hanger-roller, said roller being shown in longitudinalsection thereon. Fig. 6 is a view of the mechanism in position, showinga portion of a lintel and depending portiere. Fig. 7 is a view intransverse section, taken on the line 7 7, Fig. 6, with the hanger inposition.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The hanger A,preferably of metal,resembles in general shape a half-ringor tore and has on its outside periphery, midway of its extremities, aprojecting loop or eyelet a, to engage with a hook on the portiere. Nearthe extremities a a of the hanger A, and extending inward toward thecenter thereof and having their longitudinal axes in the same straightline, are the pins a a which serve as bearings for the hanger-rollers BB. Said pins a a are provided at their free extremities with heads a awhich retain the rollers B B upon said pins a CF. The rollers 13 B aresubstantially cylindrical and rotate around their longitudinal axes upontheir bearings a a above described.

The pole or strip 0 is made of any suitable material and has two flangesor ledges c c, which project laterally and extend throughout its entirelength. The upper surfaces 0' c of the flanges c c, which are flat, liein a plane parallel to the length of said pole C and form tracks ortreads upon which the hanger-rollers B B travel. Lying between andextending upward from the inner edges of the tracks 0 c is a raisedportion d, having a fiat face designed to bear against the supportingframe or lintel H. The portion 01 of pole C is of such width as toprovide clearance between said portion D and the adj acent extremities aa of said pins (1 a when hanger A is in position upon said pole C. Theheight of said raised portion 01 above the tracks 0 c is somewhatgreater than the diameter of the hanger-rollers B B, thus providingclearance between the bottom of the lintel H and the top of the rollersB B when traveling upon the tracks 0 c. The greatest width of the pole Cis at the outer edges of the tracks 0 c, said width being somewhat lessthan the diameter of the hanger, thus allowing clearance between theedges of the tracks 0' c and the hanger A. The under portion e of thepole O is preferably convex downward and so proportioned as to leavesufficient clearance between said portion 6 and the hanger A. Thescrewf, in connection with its washer g, serves as means for fixing thepole or strip 0 to the lintel H. Said washer g is countersunk to receivethe head of said screw f and is also curved or otherwise properly shapedto conform to the under surface of the portion 6 of the pole or strip 0.

The hanger A is so placed upon the pole O that the hanger-rollers B Bbear upon the tracks 0 c and the hanger A extends downward in adirection away from the raised portion (1 of the pole C. There may be asmany such hangers as are necessary to support the curtain. The uppersurface of the part (.1 of the pole or strip (J is placed firmly againstthe under surface of the lintel H, and the pole O is then fastened tosaid lintelby means of the screws f, extending through the pole O andinto the lintel H. The head of the screw F, exposed surface of thewasher g, and surface of the under portion 6 of the pole C will formsubstantially a continuous surface. The fabric I is engaged by hooks orin any other suitable manner to the eyelets a in the hangers A and maythen be easily drawn in either direction along the pole C. It is obviousthat in this construction no space is left between the pole or strip andthe lintel, and the pole or strip may be given a color corresponding tothat of the lintel. Thus the pole or strip will have the appearance ofbeing part of the lintel and adds a finished appearance thereto. Theupper edges of the portiere are also brought much closer to the lintelthan in the construction formerly used, and as the hangers run uponrollers there is much less friction in drawing the curtain than wherethe hangers have only sliding contact with the pole.

In the construction herein described the fabric may be hung in such amanner that its upper edge will extend beyond the hangers to which it isattached, and as the distance from the hangers to the lintel is smallthe fabric will by its own stiffness extend upward a distance sufficientto completely hide the hangers and pole. By this method of hanging thepole and hanger are not noticeable.

It is obvious that the shape of the lower portion of the strip or pole,as well as that of the hanger, may be varied without departing from myinvention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A fixture for suspending curtains, consisting of the combination of aninverted-T- shaped strip or pole, the upright central portion whereof isadapted to be directly attached to, and lie closely against the surfaceof a lintel or other supporting structure; ledges upon said strip orpole protruding laterally one from each side of the central portionthereof, the upper surfaces of said ledges forming tracks or ways lyingin the same horizontal plane; a depending hanger consisting of a yoke,said yoke having at or near each extremity thereof, a pin which servesas a bearing for a roller; and a roller upon each of said pins bearingupon said tracks or ways, whereby said yoke is supported upon saidhorizontal ledges in such manner that said yoke may vibrate in thedirection of the length of said strip or pole.

THEODOR AUGUST ESSER.

\Vitnesses:

JEssE Cox, HOWARD M. Cox.

